Rachel Skarsten (born April 23, 1985) is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Dinah Lance on the television series Birds of Prey, Tamsin in Lost Girl and Elizabeth of England in Reign.

Life and career

Rachel Alice Marie Skarsten was born in Toronto, to a Canadian mother and a Norwegian father, Mary Aileen (née Self) and Dr. Stan Skarsten. She has one younger brother. Rachel trained with the Royal Academy of Dance for 12 years and attended Claude Watson School for the Arts from grades 4 to 8. There she majored in visual arts and the cello. She continued in the Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig Secondary School from grades 9-12, majoring in visual arts.[citation needed]

After being discovered by an agent at a memorial for her father Dr. Stan Skarsten, she went on to be cast as a regular in shows such as Little Men before landing her "big break" as a lead in the Warner Brothers television series Birds of Prey.[citation needed]

After filming wrapped, Skarsten left Los Angeles and returned to Canada where she completed a double degree in English Literature and Classical Studies at the prestigious Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Following this, she returned to acting with arcs on The LA Complex, Flashpoint, and The Listener as well as work in Canadian independents such as Servitude and Two Hands to Mouth. She is currently part of filming Lost Girl. She played Andrea in the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Filmography

Film
2002 Virginia's Run
2003 Fear of the Dark
2007 Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
2007 American Pie Presents Beta House
2011 Servitude
2012 Two Hands to Mouth
2015 Fifty Shades of Grey

Television
1998 The Famous Jett Jackson
1998–99 Little Men
1999 Justice
2000 Angels in the Infield
2000 Twice in a Lifetime
2001 Jewel
2001 Screech Owls
2002 POV Sports on CBC
2002 Tracker
2002–03 Birds of Prey
2003 Missing
2005 Category 7: The End of the World
2010 Made... The Movie
2011 Awakening
2011 Flashpoint
2011–12 The Listener
2012 The L.A. Complex
2012 Transporter: The Series
2012 Beauty & the Beas
2013–15 Lost Girl
2013 Lost Girl: An Evening at the Clubhouse
2014 In My Dreams
2015–present Reign
2015 The Red Dress